Bye-bye, Nyanko Kingdom

I open the door to the ground-floor room and am met with the deep, comforting scent of old books. Bookshelves of all sizes block the way to the entrance. Scattered across the floor are books from every possible category. I carefully put the golden key in my pocket and shake my hands to dry off the well water.

I hear the tapping sound of small feet behind me, but I already know what to do.

I squat down and begin sorting the books into categories, putting them in neat piles in the corner. I admit, I spend a bit too much time in the manga section, but I have to know the ending of this unpublished volume that I can only find in this world. When I am finally done organizing, I let out a big sigh at the towering bookshelves and gradually push them to the walls, one by one. They are incredibly heavy; the effort makes me grit my teeth and breathe heavily, yet I grin whenever I successfully push one into place.

After a long time of patiently moving the stacks from the floor to the shelves, I step back and proudly look at my hard work. The tall shelves are neatly pushed to the sides, and the middle short rows of tiny shelves are stacked perfectly with books, paving a clear path to the yellow entrance door. The small shadow figure claps, as if congratulating me on finishing the daunting task.

With the key in my hand, I head to the front entrance. I put the key in the knob and twist it. The door makes a satisfying clicking noise. It works. I use my body weight to pull the left side of the heavy metal door open and do the same with the right side.

To my surprise, it is daytime outside. The noise and spectacle of reality are rushing back. I still don't see any people, yet I can hear the ambient chatter, the honking of vehicles, and the chirping of birds. I gasp in surprise as a big moving truck stops right in front of the house, its halting making a loud skidding noise across the pavement. I step close to inspect it; there is no driver inside, just as I expected.

Then, I see it again: the same makeshift clothes rope hanging from the top floor. Looking up, I see the small figure, now dangling their legs, sitting casually on the high balcony railing, waving their hand at me. I touch the rope, give it a tug, and then decide that—hell no—I will be taking the stairs.

I speedrun through the library shelves, up the stairs, and onto the first floor. It is still hot, but bearable now. The two hissing shadow beasts are still there in the hallway. I take a deep breath, reach out, and pat them. Their shadowy heads lean softly into my touch.

Then I run up again, to the second floor. This time, I linger a bit more, touching the clothes cabinet and the bed. I lay down on it; the futon hurts my back, and there are way too many body pillows piled up, built like a child's fortress. So, I get up and go to the balcony. The neighborhood seems lively and bright, which makes the persistent light on the third floor across the street look like a completely normal occurrence. Maybe it was always normal, and I was just overthinking it.

I take a last look at it, then run up to the top floor, following the ghost of the rainbow patch. I pass the room with the AC, notice that the offerings on the glass altar are gone, and head to the big balcony where the small figure is waiting. I am tempted to sit on the railing as well, but I look down at the dizzying height, think about gravity, and decide not to. I lean against the safety of the railing instead, admiring the street view and the mundane, comforting noise of honking vehicles.

The small figure turns around and hops down, grabbing my hands and leading me to the smaller balcony where the sky window is. It is half-closed. Together, we manually push it wide open, letting the warm sunlight flood down into every floor of the house.

From here, we can see the whole neighborhood, sunlit and alive. The figure hops onto the neighbor's wavy rooftop, overlooking everything. I climb up as well, a little wary of the roof but finding it surprisingly steady to stand on. The wind is breezy and genuinely cool against my face. The church bell tower rings in the distance.

Then, I hear the honking sound of the truck down on the ground floor. It's time.

The small figure looks back at the east side and signals for me to go. I stay still on the spot for a bit, as there is no reason to hurry, spreading my arms out to feel the cool breeze against my body. Finally, I grab onto the side pole to proceed to the next rooftop. I can't help but take a look back. The small figure is waving at me from the other end of the wavy roof. I pause and wave back, a small smile spreading across my face.

As I reach the edge of the roof, I am faced with two choices: jump or climb down. I exhale and take a quick look back. We exchange nods. Then, I jump down.

I have the key, anyway.

***

Hello again, my readers. You must be curious how the Nyanko kingdom investigation is progressing. There are still so many things I can't explain yet. But no worries, we have all the time in the world to explore. After all, I can come back anytime.

And, I have the key, anyway.

Bye-bye, Nyanko kingdom.